Striders of Croydon produced some good performances in the annual Sidcup 10-mile road race on Sunday, writes Alan Dolton.

They were led by Justin Macenhill who 10th tenth of the 389 finishers, recording 56 minutes 47 seconds which was less than a minute outside his personal best. Tyler O’Callaghan was 13th (57.35) and Richard Lee-Smith also ran well to place 26th (59.36).

This gave Striders second place in the team event.

Damian Macenhill was 55th (64.02) with Alistair Price 60th (64.24), Chris Morton 61st (64.37) and Paul Finch 75th (66.23). Barry Finch was second in the over-60 category and 136th overall (72.13). Striders’ women were led by Tina Macenhill who placed 208th overall in 77 minutes 31.

Meanwhile Striders’ Matt Morgan ran in the Chessington 10K road race and set a personal best 33 minutes 16, lifting him to fourth in the club’s all-time 10K records.

At the same race Helen Furze placed second in the women’s over-35 category with a time of 41 minutes 25.

Striders also had several competitors in the Roundshaw Downs Park Run on Saturday morning.

They were led by Nigel Davidson who placed tenth, covering the five-kilometre course in exactly 21 minutes. Suzy Yates was the second woman to finish. placing 12th overall in 21 minutes 13, just one second ahead of club colleague Simon Ambrosi. Alan Dolton was 15th (21.51) with Sean Gallagher 19th (22.47), Victoria Legge 61st (34.12) and Kevin Burnett 62nd (34.17).

Striders’ Alice Ewen was the first woman to finish in the Bromley Park Run on the same day, covering the five-kilometre course in 22 minutes 30 and placing 16th overall. Steve Smith was 13th (21.41) with Linda Daniel 29th (24.58) and Marguerite Ewen 55th (33.44).

The clash with the Sidcup and Chessington races meant that Striders fielded a below-strength team for the East Surrey Cross-Country Relays at Wimbledon Common. Their best performance came from Stephanie Upton, who produced an excellent run to cover the third leg in 12 minutes 47, which was faster than any of Striders’ men. The team’s other runners were David Batten (13.54), Tom Littlewood (14.17) and Andy Elliott (15.54). They finished 14th, dropping to tenth in the overall league table with two races left.

On Saturday (20th) Striders will have several competitors in the Surrey Cross-Country Championships in Lloyd Park.